Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network

Transcription

1 Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network Southern New England February 2016 No shadow was seen, so an early spring has been prognosticated. Groundhog Day marks the midpoint of the heating season. New England farmers would say Half your wood and half your hay at Groundhog Day. The shortest month of the year should come with the shortest newsletter of the year. Instead, maybe a collection of shorter articles. Then, we dared to compare our stations against the tipping gauges at the area airports. Concluding with a closer look on the snow storm that brought blizzard conditions to some and absolutely nothing to others in our area. Welcome to new observers who joined during January from the counties of Hartford CT, Washington RI, Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex of MA. Some of you have jumped in and started reporting. We look forward to seeing others report soon. Winter Precipitation As a follow up to last month s newsletter where rain, sleet, freezing rain and rain were mentioned, there are more types of winter precipitation than that, such as graupel and grains. To help explain deeper and farther, a link is provided to the CoCoRaHS Blog entry from last January. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 1 February 2016 Newsletter

2 Points about Decimal Points From a look at one of our Water Year Summaries, there are more than 200 days a year, we report zero. That s easy. There are more than 100 days a year that we report precipitation. Most of the times, that s less than 1. And then it snows. When it snows, we have more values to enter in a Daily Report. And with each value, there are more ways to make mistakes with the decimal point. Instead of entering 0.35, an entry of 3.5 or 35.0 is made. Or, entering a snow fall amount of 2.5 where liquid equivalent of approximately 0.23 should be entered. Whether you use the website or the mobile app to make a report, make the effort to backspace a default value of 0.00, start with an empty value and enter the values from there. Please take a few additional seconds to look over your precip and snow values that you are reporting before pressing submit. After you press submit, take another few seconds to look over your report. The History feature on the mobile app is helpful to verify only the Daily Precipitation value. The website is helpful to verify all of your reported values. If you make a mistake, there is no app for that and correcting that mistake requires you to go back to the website. Editing Reports From the website, login to make a change to one of your reports. From List/Edit My Reports, click on Daily Precipitation. Click on the pencil to change the report for the day selected. Your selected report appears next. Make the change. Click submit to save the change. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 2 February 2016 Newsletter

3 March Madness No, this is not a section about a college basketball tournament. As the weather gets warmer and winter loses its grip across the nation, CoCoRaHS uses the month of March to recruit more volunteers for its precipitation network. For only the month of March, a CoCoRaHS Cup is awarded to the state with the most new signups during March. Another CoCoRaHS Cup is awarded to the state with most new signups during March as a percentage of its state s population. This link summarizes what happened last year and in year s past. In our area, we are making plans to reach out in the media to get the word out. If we cannot win for total number of new observers, our small states can have a good chance of winning a high percentage of its state s population. As we look at the Map of the Month for Barnstable County, the more observers we have, the more unique items we learn from. Everyone can help recruit during March Madness. If you know of someone who would be interested in joining us, March would be a good time to get that someone to join. More CoCoRaHS Videos Three videos prepared by Tony Merriman of the NWS Forecast Office in Bismarck ND, should you be looking for another perspective from CoCoRaHS animated videos. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 3 February 2016 Newsletter

4 Detail and Summary for January 2016 After a normal amount of precipitation in December, January went back to being below normal for most of the area, a widespread 2-3 for the month. Less in areas north and east. More in southeast Massachusetts, again. Looking at the totals below, we are a month s worth of precipitation below normal over 6 months. From the National Weather Service (NWS) Climate sites for Jan Location Station ID Jan 2016 Precip Jan departure from normal Nov- Dec-Jan Precip 3 month departure from normal Aug-Jan Precip 6 month departure from normal Jan 2016 Snowfall Jan snowfall departure from normal Pittsfield MA PSF 1.09'' -1.83'' 7.64'' -2.21'' 17.45'' -5.06'' Bridgeport CT BDR 2.26'' -0.84'' 8.43'' -1.39'' 15.61'' -5.29'' 10.6'' 2.6'' Hartford CT BDL 1.96'' -1.27'' 8.41'' -2.15'' 17.84'' -4.90'' 1.9'' -10.4'' Worcester MA ORH 2.12'' -1.37'' 8.53'' -3.06'' 18.95'' -4.96'' 9.7'' -7.4'' Providence RI PVD 3.03'' -0.83'' 10.45'' -2.14'' 19.22'' -4.82'' 7.3'' -1.7'' Boston MA BOS 3.27'' -0.09'' 9.62'' -1.51'' 17.48'' -4.38'' 9.5'' -3.4'' January showed its two faces. Sunday the 10 th had a morning soaking rain. Rain started overnight on the 15 th and continued into the 16 th. Light snow occurred overnight into the morning of the 18 th The winter storm on Saturday the 23 rd brought blizzard conditions to areas south and east and no snow to areas north and west of our region. A very unique event where our region saw the line between snow and no snow slice through our region. All of your reports helped map the variability of that event. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 4 February 2016 Newsletter

5 From your reports for January 2016 Observers reporting 161 Reported all 31 days 65 Completed by Multi-Day Reports 13 Missing 1 or 2 reports 22 Keep making this number smaller! Thank you! Daily Reports 3785 Zero Reports 2536 Non-Zero Reports 1249 Comments 710 Multi-Day Reports 70 Highest Daily Snowfall Report 15.0 from West Tisbury MA (MA-DK-5) reported on 1/24 Highest Daily Report 2.36 from Greenville RI (RI-PR-33) reported on 1/11 Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 5 February 2016 Newsletter

6 All 78 stations with complete station data for January appear here. Keep up the great work and this list can grow to another page in length. Station Location Precip Snowfall County & State MA-BE-3 Stockbridge.2 NNE 1.29'' 3.4'' Berkshire MA MA-BE-10 Pittsfield 2.0 NNW 1.65'' 3.2'' Berkshire MA MA-BE-4 Becket 5.6 SSW 1.83'' 6.0'' Berkshire MA CT-LT-5 Winsted 2.6 NNW 1.49'' 3.0'' Litchfield CT CT-LT-9 New Hartford Center 3.2 SW 1.71'' 3.6'' Litchfield CT CT-FR-9 Brookfield 3.3 SSE 2.23'' 5.5'' Fairfield CT CT-FR-23 Shelton 1.3 W 2.63'' 12.7'' Fairfield CT CT-NH-16 Milford 1.8 E 2.57'' 12.7'' New Haven CT CT-NH-14 Prospect 1.9 ENE 1.28'' 8.9'' New Haven CT MA-FR-10 Conway 0.9 SW 2.23'' 0.9'' Franklin MA MA-FR-12 Sunderland 1.3 SE 1.87'' 1.3'' Franklin MA MA-HS-14 Plainfield 2.4 ESE 1.93'' 1.9'' Hampshire MA MA-HS-2 Westhampton 1.8 SW 2.02'' 3.0'' Hampshire MA MA-HS-10 Northampton 1.6 NE 1.86'' 1.7'' Hampshire MA MA-HD-13 Springfield 4.1 W 1.75'' 1.2'' Hampden MA CT-HR-24 Collinsville 0.9 NW 1.97'' 3.1'' Hartford CT CT-HR-15 Southington 3.0 E 2.56'' 9.5'' Hartford CT CT-HR-18 Berlin 2.4 SSE 2.93'' 6.8'' Hartford CT CT-HR-11 West Hartford 2.7 SSE 2.59'' 5.6'' Hartford CT CT-HR-6 Wethersfield 1.2 WSW 2.35'' 5.5'' Hartford CT CT-TL-2 Staffordville 0.4 NNW 2.42'' 7.4'' Tolland CT CT-MD-2 Portland 0.9 S 2.85'' 10.5'' Middlesex CT CT-MD-5 Westbrook Center 1.1 N 2.05'' 6.0'' Middlesex CT MA-WR-35 Holden 2.3 ESE 2.20'' 6.5'' Worcester MA MA-WR-32 Auburn 1.9 ESE 2.26'' 7.7'' Worcester MA MA-WR-13 Leominster 1.5 S 1.74'' 4.0'' Worcester MA MA-WR-28 Berlin 1.3 WSW 2.32'' 6.0'' Worcester MA MA-WR-18 Northborough 0.6 SSE 2.46'' 4.6'' Worcester MA MA-WR-1 Milford 2.3 NNW 3.01'' 10.3'' Worcester MA CT-WN-6 Dayville 2.0 ENE 3.06'' 10.5'' Windham CT CT-WN-8 Moosup 1.7 NE 2.33'' 10.8'' Windham CT CT-WN-4 East Killingly 1.3 SW 3.20'' 9.2'' Windham CT RI-PR-33 Greenville 0.7 NNW 4.24'' 11.7'' Providence RI RI-WS-25 Rockville 0.4 E 4.22'' 13.5'' Washington RI RI-KN-2 East Greenwich 2.3 ESE 2.78'' 10.5'' Kent RI RI-NW-4 Middletown 1.1 SW 3.14'' 7.5'' Newport RI RI-NW-11 Tiverton 0.8 SSW 4.05'' 11.2'' Newport RI Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 6 February 2016 Newsletter

7 RI-NW-5 Little Compton 1.7 NW 3.22'' 10.1'' Newport RI RI-NW-7 Little Compton 0.6 E 3.82'' 9.2'' Newport RI MA-BR-17 North Attleboro 0.8 E 3.03'' 7.9'' Bristol MA MA-BR-23 Attleboro 0.9 ENE 2.75'' 4.3'' Bristol MA MA-BR-3 Norton 1.8 NNE 3.35'' 10.6'' Bristol MA MA-BR-8 Dighton 1.1 WSW 3.37'' 10.8'' Bristol MA MA-BR-14 Dartmouth 2.5 SSW 3.23'' 9.1'' Bristol MA MA-MD-47 West Townsend 0.5 W 1.77'' 4.9'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-12 Acton 1.3 SW 2.50'' 7.0'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-55 Holliston 0.7 W 3.46'' 5.9'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-51 Maynard 0.7 ESE 2.59'' 7.5'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-42 Holliston 0.8 S 3.28'' 10.6'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-52 Lexington 0.6 SW 2.68'' 8.1'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-45 Wilmington 1.5 NE 2.36'' 4.7'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-7 Winchester 0.7 SE 3.02'' 9.3'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-44 Medford 1.2 W 3.20'' 8.4'' Middlesex MA MA-MD-43 Somerville 0.8 SSE 2.97'' 9.6'' Middlesex MA MA-ES-3 Haverhill 3.6 WNW 2.10'' 5.6'' Essex MA MA-ES-20 Haverhill 0.7 N 2.39'' 4.2'' Essex MA MA-ES-4 Groveland 0.5 WSW 2.45'' 5.4'' Essex MA MA-ES-12 Boxford 2.4 S 2.58'' 5.2'' Essex MA MA-ES-2 Beverly 2.8 NW 3.00'' 6.5'' Essex MA MA-ES-8 Marblehead 0.8 SW 2.80'' 9.5'' Essex MA MA-SF-10 Chelsea 0.8 N 3.28'' 9.4'' Suffolk MA MA-SF-2 Winthrop 0.2 N 3.37'' 9.5'' Suffolk MA MA-NF-16 Bellingham 4.7 S 3.70'' 0.0'' Norfolk MA MA-NF-1 Norwood 1.3 NW 3.58'' 10.5'' Norfolk MA MA-NF-5 Weymouth 0.5 NW 4.38'' 10.0'' Norfolk MA MA-PL-12 East Bridgewater 1.7 WNW 3.67'' 13.8'' Plymouth MA MA-PL-15 Abington 1.2 NNE 2.97'' 11.0'' Plymouth MA MA-PL-18 Pembroke 1.7 ENE 3.43'' 9.6'' Plymouth MA MA-PL-5 Kingston 3.3 WNW 4.78'' 17.9'' Plymouth MA MA-BA-14 North Falmouth 0.5 ENE 4.99'' 15.2'' Barnstable MA MA-BA-13 Falmouth 0.6 NNW 5.05'' 16.2'' Barnstable MA MA-BA-11 East Falmouth 1.4 ESE 3.43'' 11.9'' Barnstable MA MA-BA-18 Waquoit 0.6 SSW 3.94'' 19.0'' Barnstable MA MA-BA-45 Sandwich 0.9 NNE 4.23'' 3.5'' Barnstable MA MA-BA-33 Brewster 1.5 ESE 4.78'' 13.0'' Barnstable MA MA-BA-12 Orleans 1.1 E 5.74'' 5.6'' Barnstable MA MA-DK-5 West Tisbury 2.9 N 4.46'' 20.8'' Dukes MA MA-DK-2 Vineyard Haven 0.8 WSW 5.80'' 18.3'' Dukes MA Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 7 February 2016 Newsletter

8 From the Climate Center. But something different this month. Instead of using the map from the High Plains Regional Climate Center at the University of Nebraska, your CoCoRaHS station data finds its way to the Midwest Regional Climate Center at the University of Illinois. Reading the fine print below: COOP = NWS Co-Operative Observers, using 8 diameter rain gauges. FAA = Federal Aviation Administration, likely the ASOS tipping gauges at the airports. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 8 February 2016 Newsletter

9 If you can report New Snow every day, have no missing days and have no NA s, your station can be here with all of the others. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 9 February 2016 Newsletter

10 Map of the Month Barnstable MA The more observers we have, the more we can learn. 17 observations can tell so much in a county of 400 square miles, bordering bays and ocean. Month after month, we mention that we can never have enough observers in this county or in the other one. This one map from this one event shows why we feel that way. Well done to all of the observers here! Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 10 February 2016 Newsletter

11 From the Drought Monitor. Last month, we mentioned the situation in Southern CT. This month, Southern CT looks slightly different. Also looking drought free are the areas in Plymouth, Bristol and Washington Counties. For a viewing explanation on the Drought Monitor, the CoCoRaHS animated video is on YouTube. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 11 February 2016 Newsletter

12 We Dare to Compare! Last month, we quickly put together a map of 6 month precipitation values within Southern CT. Looking for more irregularities with other ASOS outside of Southern CT, more were found. CoCoRaHS stations near ASOS were added and monthly totals were obtained from our inquiry tools. Thanks to those stations listed below for having nearly complete to perfectly complete data. It made this analysis quicker and easier. While tipping gauges at ASOS give a short term look at current weather conditions, our network with our gauges have value in determining weeks, months, and years of climate. We dare to define the climate. With more reports and more stations, we can greatly define what we measure and report. Compare our 4 diameter gauges to the tipping gauges at ASOS. Location Station ID Network County Jan 2016 Precip Nov- Dec-Jan Precip Aug-Jan Precip North Adams AQW ASOS Berkshire MA 1.30'' 6.06'' 18.19'' Pittsfield PSF ASOS Berkshire MA 1.09'' 7.64'' 17.45'' Pittsfield 2.0 NNW MABE10 CoCoRaHS Berkshire MA 1.65'' 9.17'' 21.86'' Danbury DXR ASOS Fairfield CT 2.36'' 7.96'' 15.26'' Brookfield 3.3 SSE CTFR09 CoCoRaHS Fairfield CT 2.23'' 8.49'' 17.73'' South Salem 2.1 NW NYWC06 CoCoRaHS Westchester NY 2.80'' 9.55'' 21.02'' Westchester County Apt HPN ASOS Westchester NY 1.99'' 9.67'' 20.98'' White Plains 3.1 NNW NYWC03 CoCoRaHS Westchester NY 2.88'' 9.90'' 20.38'' Bridgeport/Sikorsky BDR ASOS Fairfield CT 2.26'' 8.43'' 15.61'' Shelton 1.3 W CTFR23 CoCoRaHS Fairfield CT 2.63'' 10.68'' 21.24'' Westport 2.5 ENE CTFR20 CoCoRaHS Fairfield CT 1.84'' 8.19'' 18.42'' New Haven HVN ASOS New Haven CT 1.71'' 6.55'' 12.33'' Milford 1.8 E CTNH16 CoCoRaHS New Haven CT 2.57'' 9.65'' 18.30'' Meriden MMK ASOS New Haven CT 1.37'' 5.35'' 10.97'' Prospect 1.9 ENE CTNH14 CoCoRaHS New Haven CT 1.28'' 8.88'' 19.30'' Berlin 2.4 SSE CTHR18 CoCoRaHS Hartford CT 2.93'' 9.57'' 18.47'' Orange Muni ORE ASOS Franklin MA 1.07'' 7.72'' 18.93'' Conway 0.9 SW MAFR10 CoCoRaHS Franklin MA 2.23'' 9.65'' 27.86'' Westfield BAF ASOS Hampden MA 1.60'' 7.51'' 17.83'' Chicopee Falls/Westover CEF ASOS Hampden MA 1.41'' 7.34'' 15.74'' Springfield 4.1 W MAHD13 CoCoRaHS Hampden MA 1.75'' 7.52'' 17.10'' Hartford/Bradley BDL ASOS Hartford CT 1.96'' 8.41'' 17.84'' Enfield 1.5 SE CTHR05 CoCoRaHS Hartford CT 2.14'' 8.48'' 18.72'' Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 12 February 2016 Newsletter

13 North Granby 1.3 ENE CTHR08 CoCoRaHS Hartford CT 1.77'' 8.64'' 20.24'' Hartford/Brainard HFD ASOS Hartford CT 1.95'' 7.47'' 14.14'' Wethersfield 1.2 WSW CTHR06 CoCoRaHS Hartford CT 2.35'' 8.25'' 16.86'' East Hartford 1.3 E CTHR22 CoCoRaHS Hartford CT 2.49'' 8.41'' 17.02'' Worcester ORH ASOS Worcester MA 2.12'' 8.53'' 18.95'' Auburn 1.9 ESE MAWR32 CoCoRaHS Worcester MA 2.26'' 9.05'' Fitchburg FIT ASOS Worcester MA 1.47'' 8.72'' 17.36'' Leominster 1.5 S MAWR13 CoCoRaHS Worcester MA 1.74'' 10.82'' 17.75'' Williamantic IJD ASOS Windham CT 1.70'' 6.71'' 16.22'' East Killingly 1.3 SW CTWN04 CoCoRaHS Windham CT 3.20'' 9.43'' 17.82'' Moosup 1.7 NE CTWN08 CoCoRaHS Windham CT 2.33'' 8.72'' 17.89'' Groton/New London GON ASOS New London CT 1.40'' 6.02'' 14.43'' Oakdale 2.6 WNW CTNL05 CoCoRaHS New London CT 3.05'' 11.89'' 22.78'' Westerly WST ASOS Washington RI 2.57'' 10.19'' 21.43'' Hope Valley 3.7 S RIWS01 CoCoRaHS Washington RI 3.85'' 13.30'' 22.38'' Providence/T F Green PVD ASOS Kent RI 3.03'' 10.45'' 19.22'' East Greenwich 2.3 ESE RIKN02 CoCoRaHS Kent RI 2.78'' 11.65'' 19.46'' Newport UUU ASOS Newport RI 2.67'' 11.18'' 23.09'' Middletown 1.1 SW RINW04 CoCoRaHS Newport RI 3.14'' 10.31'' 20.10'' Little Compton 1.7 NW RINW05 CoCoRaHS Newport RI 3.22'' 14.30'' 25.09'' New Bedford Muni EWB ASOS Bristol MA 3.00'' 11.54'' 26.50'' Dartmouth 2.5 SSW MABR14 CoCoRaHS Bristol MA 3.23'' 14.38'' 25.27'' Taunton Muni TAN ASOS Bristol MA 3.27'' 10.82'' 21.84'' Norton 1.8 NNE MABR03 CoCoRaHS Bristol MA 3.35'' 10.85'' 18.19'' Bedford/Hanscom Fld BED ASOS Middlesex MA 2.13'' 8.11'' 16.42'' Winchester 0.7 SE MAMD07 CoCoRaHS Middlesex MA 3.02'' 11.80'' 18.37'' Lawrence Muni LWM ASOS Essex MA 2.03'' 5.54'' 11.72'' Beverly 2.8 NW MAES02 CoCoRaHS Essex MA 3.00'' 12.06'' 19.03'' Boston Logan Intl BOS ASOS Suffolk MA 3.27'' 9.62'' 17.48'' Winthrop 0.2 N MASF02 CoCoRaHS Suffolk MA 3.37'' 8.58'' 18.92'' Norwood OWD ASOS Norfolk MA 2.80'' 7.75'' 15.27'' Norwood 1.3 NW MANF01 CoCoRaHS Norfolk MA 3.58'' 11.69'' 20.31'' Plymouth Muni PYM ASOS Plymouth MA 3.23'' 12.13'' 22.97'' Middleborough 5.5 E MAPL06 CoCoRaHS Plymouth MA 4.45'' 16.41'' 25.29'' Hyannis HYA ASOS Barnstable MA 3.81'' 14.03'' 25.89'' Yarmouth 2.3 SSE MABA01 CoCoRaHS Barnstable MA 4.74'' 17.31'' 27.96'' Chatham Muni CQX ASOS Barnstable MA 4.61'' 12.20'' 26.33'' Brewster 1.5 ESE MABA33 CoCoRaHS Barnstable MA 4.78'' 15.71'' 26.31'' Nantucket ACK ASOS Nantucket MA 5.31'' 13.75'' 20.67'' Vineyard Haven MVY ASOS Dukes MA 3.02'' 10.74'' 24.53'' Vineyard Haven 0.8 WSW MADK02 CoCoRaHS Dukes MA 5.80'' 20.01'' 32.57'' Sources: ASOS values from Station Tool at HPRCC. CoCoRaHS values from its website. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 13 February 2016 Newsletter

14 The January 2016 Blizzard By Joe DelliCarpini Science & Operations Officer, NWS Taunton MA A major winter storm brought blizzard conditions from the Mid-Atlantic States to southern New England from January 22 through 24. Snowfall totals as high as 2 to 3 feet were observed in the mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and southern Pennsylvania as seen in the map below. Here in southern New England, the highest totals were confined to coastal Connecticut, Rhode Island, and southeast Massachusetts where as much as 12 to 18 inches of snow fell. Wind gusts from the storm were impressive, gusting as high as 76 mph on Block Island (which is hurricane force) and between 60 to 70 mph across southeast New England. The storm was exceptionally well forecasted and there were indications that the Mid Atlantic States would be significantly impacted a week before the storm hit. Check out the 7-day forecast from the Weather Prediction Center below, which showed a high probability of more than 0.25 of precipitation (in the form of snow and sleet) from the Washington, DC area into New England. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 14 February 2016 Newsletter

15 In our neck of the woods, however, there was tremendous uncertainty as to how far north the heavy snow would get, even right up to the time the snow began to fall. Briefings from our NWS offices in Albany, New York City, and Taunton highlighted this uncertainty and the experimental Reasonable Maximum Snowfall maps allowed people to prepare for more snow than was forecast (as seen below). Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 15 February 2016 Newsletter

16 As expected, our observers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island rose to the occasion to provide accurate measurements during what was a challenging storm! Strong winds and blowing snow resulted in a less than ideal catch in your rain gauges, which was noted by many of you in the Daily Comments. The wet nature of the snow in coastal locations also resulted in some gauges being blocked by snow! MA-DK-5 noted Heavy wet snow and high wind made this a challenge, RI-PR-32 added Blowing and drifting made for cumbersome measurements, CT-WN- 8 added Whiteout conditions at times, first 3 inches were dry snow next 3 wet last 1.5 very powdery. Farther north, we could tell some of you were a bit disappointed by the lack of snow. Major snow event to the South. Not a single flake noted here! as noted by MA-MD-47 and Not one flake from the major coastal storm from MA-HS-2. Whether or not you saw a lot of snow or none at all, I hope you realize the importance of your reports. Remember that map of observed snowfall at the beginning of this article? The reason why you re seeing so much detail in it is because of YOUR observations! Without them, the map would certainly have looked a lot more smoothed at the edges. Keep up the great work! Wrap Up The shortest month of the year also is the driest month for our area as well. Keep with it during this second half of winter. A reminder to participate in SWE Mondays during February and into March. As we found out with the snowstorm on Jan 23 rd, zeros define where there is no snow. It may be obvious to you that there is no snow, but it is not obvious to everyone else. If you can, make a snow depth report every day. If you have a snow cover, a SWE report on Monday. If you have no snow cover, report a zero for snow depth and a zero for SWE every day. After last winter, this is easy and just as important. The first harvest of the new year starts soon. Not from the ground, but from the trees, specifically from the sugar maple trees. To the natives, it Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 16 February 2016 Newsletter

17 was a sign of spring and a sign of survival when thawing days and freezing nights occur. Taste or smell the harvest of sugar within maple sap occurring in our area. This northeast part of North America is a unique part of our planet where this harvest occurs. Every drop counts with that catch, also. Thank you for all that you do for CoCoRaHS, whether in the past, present and in the days to come. Southern New England CoCoRaHS Page 17 February 2016 Newsletter